Britain is 'tantalisingly close' to beating swine flu... but NHS to double intensive care beds just in case

Winning the battle: A person entering a clinic during the swine flu outbreak - the Government says they are close to beating the pandemic

Britain is 'tantalisingly close' to winning the fight against swine flu, the Government's chief medical officer has said.

Sir Liam Donaldson said the Health Service had got into a strong
position to tackle the H1H1 virus by ordering vaccines and antivirals.

'I think we are tantalisingly close to being able to win the battle against this pandemic,' he said.

But he cautioned that there was still much to do to combat the spread of the infection.

'Tantalising
does not mean we can always get there, but we are still fighting and
are not staring into the jaws of defeat yet,' he added.

His
comments came as health chiefs yesterday unveiled plans to double the
number of intensive care beds, to cope with an expected surge in cases,
which could strike as early as October.

Ten health authorities
have pledged to double capacity to treat the seriously ill, taking the
number of adult beds up to 4,000. The number of intensive care beds for
children will also double to about 700.

Specialists warned in
July that the H1N1 virus could overwhelm intensive care units at its
peak, because the NHS is already working at capacity in this area on
most days.

The Government's director for flu resilience, Ian
Dalton, said authorities would also increase the number of ventilators
for severely ill patients.

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Some hospitals have ordered new ones - but most will simply relocate equipment from operating theatres into wards.

To do this, however, they will have to cancel planned operations - something ministers warned will happen if there is a surge in cases.

Plans to manage a pandemic include training staff to work outside their usual areas of practice.

Some recently retired doctors are also being invited to sign up to a 'reserve list' of back-up staff, who would step in if too many health workers were struck down with the virus.

Other contingencies under consideration include treating older children on adult wards, and staff taking on more patients than usual, said Mr Dalton. The total number of deaths linked to the virus has risen by five in the last week, bringing the UK total to 75.

New figures show 504,332 courses of antivirals have been handed out through the National Pandemic Flu Service for England, with other patients receiving drugs via their GP.

It is estimated there were 3,000 new cases of swine flu in England in the last week, down on last week's 4,500 cases. However, the virus is continuing to prove more dangerous than seasonal flu for certain patients.

Research in the journal Nature Biotechnology shows this is because the H1N1 virus infects cells deeper in the lungs than the typical winter bug, causing more severe symptoms.